WHILE Christ was always patient, compassionate, merciful and the like with everyone, we cannot deny that there were occasions that he showed anger and expressed some lamentations. He even did this with his disciples, and especially with those self-righteous leading Jews of his time and...
THAT’S “strong in the faith” in English. The expression comes from the First Letter of St. Peter (5,9) and is made also in the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (16,13) Both passages are made in the context of our need to be...
WHILE it’s true that Christ told the rich young man, and us, to “sell everything and give to the poor…and come, follow me,” (Mk 10,21), we need to understand that the Christian spirit of poverty and detachment does not prevent us from having the things...
YES, when one is driven by unbelief and hatred, he is likely to fall into self-contradictions. This was illustrated in that gospel episode where some of the crowd reacted to Christ’s driving away a demon from a possessed person in this way: “By the power...
WE have to learn how to deal with the difficult and the impossible things in our life. Let’s remember that as long as we are here on earth, we have to contend with all sorts of difficulties, trials and temptations. And as if these are not...
IF we understand that prayer is what keeps us always in contact with God who is the very essence of love, then we should realize that we indeed need to pray all the time. Prayer should not be understood merely as some spiritual exercise that...
THERE’S a great need to update the story of Martha and Mary (cfr. Lk 10,38-42) if only to relish once again the important lesson it imparts to us, especially nowadays when we can do a lot of good things and pursue high worldly ideals, and...
THE Memorial of St. Francis Assisi (October 4) reminds us of the strategic role of poverty and detachment from earthly good in pursuing true Christian charity. And the gospel of that day reinforces this crucial theme in Christian life. It’s about the rich young man...
THERE is no doubt that we need to revisit the true nature and purpose of marriage, since this basic human and Christian institution is now besieged with so many misconceptions and malpractices. What the gospel once narrated about some leading Jews asking and testing Christ...
WE have to be wary of the conditions nowadays that would tend to desensitize us from our constant need for penance and conversion. This, I believe, is the message Christ wanted to impart to us when he said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you,...